The croce remanit continewally in the said abbay, to the time of King David Bruce; quhilk was unhappily tane with it at Durame, quhare it is haldin yit in gret veneration."-- BOECE, BOOK 12, CH.

16.
It is by no means clear what Scottish prince first built a palace, properly so called, in the precincts of this renowned seat of sanctity.
The abbey, endowed by successive sovereigns and many powerful nobles with munificent gifts of lands and tithes, came, in process of time, to be one of the most important of the ecclesiastical corporations of Scotland; and as early as the days of Robert Bruce, parliaments were held occasionally within its buildings.

We have evidence that James IV.

had a royal lodging adjoining to the cloister; but it is generally agreed that the first considerable edifice for the accommodation of the royal family erected here was that of James V., anno 1525, great part of which still remains, and forms the north-western side of the existing palace.

The more modern buildings which complete the quadrangle were erected by King Charles II.